Mohsin Khan was in his teens when he took a boat from Karachi in Pakistan and landed in Khor Fakkan. That was four-and-a-half decades ago when the UAE was yet to be formed. Today in his sixties, Khan still pursues the job he took up all those years ago — mending and fixing people’s shoes with as much pride and passion. And his world, says the father of six, still centres around the small shop he has been running on the cobbled streets of Bur Dubai forever.
Mohsin Khan fixes his gaze before getting on with his daily job.
The small shoe repair shop that’s almost an institution today for long-timers in Bur Dubai.
Business isn’t as good as it used to be back in the day but life isn’t bad, says the father of two daughters and four sons.
Khan’s pride and passion in his job hasn’t dimmed a wee bit over the years despite his age.
The real thrill of his job, says Khan, is by getting his hands dirty and getting it right.
This paraphernalia is all the wealth he’s got, says the master repairer who lives in a small room in Bur Dubai.
The passport that Khan used to come to the UAE 45 years ago as a teenager. “It’s frozen in time,” he says.
There is no such shoe that Khan can’t fix and there’s no fixed price at his shop. You pay what you like.